The Abbott era environmental initiative is set to be axed in the next budget update.

Then Prime Minister Tony Abbott launches the Green Army initiative in August 2014.

CANBERRA – The Turnbull Government is poised to kill off a key legacy item of former Prime Minister Tony Abbott in a move which appears to explain the Government's deal with the Greens on the backpacker tax.

The Australian Financial Review reports the troubled Green Army of young (17-24 years) jobseekers "enlisted" to restore the environment is set to be dumped in the December 19 budget update, the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO), saving more than $350 million.

Scott Gelston
Green army members hard at work in the Cataract Gorge

Green Army participants did manual labour such as weeding and clearing creeks in return for half the minimum wage with the government describing it as "training and experience", but the program – which started in mid-2014 - suffered injuries and drop-outs and was criticised for diverting funds from other environmental projects.

It comes just days after the Government side-stepped Labor and crossbench senators to strike a deal with the Greens to find $100 million to fund the environmental volunteer group Landcare over four years for support for a 15 percent backpacker tax.

The office of Greens Leader Richard Di Natale has told the Huffington Post Australia that the Green Army did not come up in negotiations last week, but the Greens are happy to see it go.

"We opposed it from the beginning," a spokesman said.

"It is not an environmental program. It is an employment program, and a bad one at that".

The Opposition is also not wanting to keep the Green Army marching.

Govt cut $350m from Green Army today. That puts the deal with the Greens for $100m for Landcare into context.#auspol